Sport has always found its way into television, movies, music, but here are some more (maybe) forgotten ones
The sport of hockey is pretty much a main character in movies like “The Mighty Ducks” and “Slap Shot.” Recently, shows like “Shoresy” or “Heated Rivalry” have shown they can tell stories around the sport.
But hockey always finds its way into pieces of pop culture that have little or nothing to do with the game or even sports as a whole.
Take the wildly successful HBO drama “The Pitt.” Now, when we first trotted out this gimmick, no one had even heard of the show yet.
The show, which won five Emmys and was nominated for 38 total, is set in an emergency room in Pittsburgh where doctors treat patients under tremendously stressful conditions. Some of those conditions are due to tragic circumstances, others under some self-inflicted mishaps.
Take the fifth episode of Season 2, which first aired in February. A young man comes in with a bad freeze dried burn on his chest. He tells the doctors that he was trying to brand himself with his family’s crest.
The reveal shows the crest is the Penguins logo. The team clearly loved it, using it on social media wherever applicable.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 18, 2026
Also, Dr. Langdon played by actor Patrick Ball, is seen during parts of both seasons wearing a retro-looking black Penguins hat with a gold brim. WR4092RI9WREIOR3O9RIEROIREhen you really wanna drive that Pittsburgh setting home, it’s tough to get more Pittsburgh than the Penguins.
The team even held a Pitt-themed promotional giveaway.
Here’s a few more – and we aren’t talking about the famous ones everyone knows, like the guys in “Swingers” playing the EA Sports NHL video game or wearing a Bruins jersey to play golf in “Happy Gilmore” — these are some deeper cuts. Just for fun:
Actor Dave Coulier, a Michigan native, is a dedicated Red Wings fan. Playing Uncle Joey in the iconic family comedy “Full House,” was always trying to sneak his Red Wings jerseys into shows, and he admitted as much in a 2022 interview.
Coulier said that after he wore the sweater on the show, a box of Red Wings goods showed up for him to display, courtesy of the team. Cut. It. Out!
The NBC comedy that ran from 2001 to 2010 for 191 episodes had an on ongoing bit about Dr. Cox (played by John C. McGinley) being in love with the Detroit Red Wings. He even snuck his Red Wings gear out on double dates to the dismay of his partner.
Sports is always a metaphor for life. And in the case of the Showtime prestige show that ran for seven season from 2016-2023, they constantly proved that.
The show revolved around successful hedge fund manager Bobby “Axe” Axelrod, played by Damian Lewis. In a scene from the premiere of Season 4 he admonishes one of his employees for going lone wolf, instead of being part of the team.
Insider trading tip: @ovi8’s going to shoot from that spot and @backstrom19 is going to feed it to him. 💸
🎥
— NHL (@NHL) March 18, 2019
“Do you know why Ovi scores so much? Because Backstrom shares the puck,” Axelrod says.
Show creators Brian Koppelman and David Levien are very public, rabid sports fans. The reference came after the Capitals won the Stanley Cup, but before Alex Ovechkin became the most prolific goal scorer in NHL history.
MOVIES
Born of the “Saturday Night Live” sketch, Aurora, Illinois local television celebrities Wayne Campbell (Toronto Maple Leafs fan Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey) don’t do much with their lives, but they love some hockey, specifically the Chicago Blackhawks.
They play street hockey (pausing the game constantly for cars) and they frequent Stan Mikita’s Donuts, a fictionalized version of Tim Horton’s run by the absolutely off-the-wall Glen, played by Ed O’Neill.
And then there was that one time that Stan Mikita’s Donuts was real, though it was sadly a temporary pop-up shop for the 2017 NHL All-Star Game.
What else do Mikita and Horton have in common besides having famous donut shops named for them? They are both in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The 1992 Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson screwball comedy about a pair of basketball hustlers trying to make money on various southern California blacktops has more than a few (thousand) sarcastic quips in it.
Perhaps the most sarcastic is when the two team up to try and hustle Raymond (played hysterically by former five-time NBA All-Star Marques Johnson).
The nerdy-looking Billy Hoyle (Harrelson) is asked to join the game by Raymond, who says “Hey chump, you wanna run?” Hoyle, trying to be as nerdy as possible to set up his hustle with Sidney Deane (Snipes) responds “You mean play basketball?”
That’s when Raymond’s teammate (David Roberson), who is clearly standing in the middle of an outdoor basketball court as everyone waits to play basketball says: “No, we mean ice hockey. Get your tired butt up here, Gretzky.”
MUSIC
“Ants Marching” by Dave Matthews Band
Regardless of what you may think of Dave Matthews Band’s style, their lead singer’s dancing or their touring bus, there is simply no doubt that drummer Carter Beauford is one of the best to do it.
The video was shot in a New York City warehouse, which may be why the legendary drummer decided to go with a blue New York Rangers jersey — and the very 90s matching hat — in the video.
“Toxicity” by System of a Down
Guitarist Daron Malakian made the choice to go with a black Los Angeles Kings jersey for the video shoot for nu-metal band’s hit back in 2001.
Even the ultra-fast, spinning camera movements couldn’t make that unmistakable Kings jersey with the crest unidentifiable. Malakian isn’t wearing a player jersey, but rather a personalized No. 13, however, the jersey does have the captain’s C on it.
Rob Blake’s final season as Kings captain was 2000-01 while 2001-02 was Mattias Norstrom’s first with the C. Disorder!
